Cypress Rising (Dead)
*'Former Residents:' Ereshkigal, Mercy, Anna, Wraps-in-Shadow, Echoes-Glory, Kere'ngende, Antigone, Aedwy, Shaitan *'Visitors:' Anna *'OOC Contact:' Wizards Brief History The Caern of Cypress Rising was destroyed in December, 1995 by BSDs and Salamander. The remnant fled to the Wheel, and went on to found the Caern of the Last Days. This Sept assisted Cyllan in her quest to return Magpie to the Sept of the Wheel in 1995. Former Residents *Ereshkigal *Mercy *Anna *Wraps-in-Shadow *Echoes-Glory *Kere'ngende *Antigone *Aedwy *Shaitan Complete History When all living things are bound with the threads of the Incarna and the internal struggles of the Triat, few events happen in isolation. As autumn approached in 1995, a dark cloud formed on the horizon at the Caern of the Wheel Renewed. Magpie was seen less and less often among the totems of that Sept and, finally, it appeared that she was gone totally. Attempts to summon her were nearly fatal for a small group of Garou led by the Caern's Groundskeeper; a spirit of fire came in her place, a Wyrm spirit seeking Magpie as well. In the months that followed a few of those born under the Crescent Moon, those most apt to receive glimpses of things to come, were beset with dire visions. Cypress Rising's origins date back to the earlier settlers in Alabama and was, until close to its end, strictly controlled by the Black Furies. It stood as a shining example of the good that some of those the Pure Ones called Wyrmbringers could have upon this land. Steadfastly pure, they remained a Sept dedicated to Magpie, their totem, and to remaining free of the tainting influence of the other tribes. But as the Last Days approached, as the centuries passed, Cypress Rising found itself hard pressed to stand firm against the encroachment of civilization and the growing strength of the Wyrm. The combined might of Pegasus' Children slowly waned as their numbers dwindled. And, as their own size and power ebbed, the fury of the Wyrm's assaults strengthened, weakening them further in a tragic cycle that could have only one outcome. Finally all of that changed in a move that divided the Sept of Cypress Rising. Its last Alpha chose to allow a small group, Fenris' children of all tribes, access to the Caern. Several, over the ensuing years, rose to positions of strength within the Sept as the influence of the Furies ebbed further. Then, in a move that was even more surprising than the first, this same Alpha allowed a similar group of Shadow Lords to join them to stem the further tide of losses the Wyrm was continuing to inflict. By this time the Sept was under constant stress, from pressures both internal as well as by assault from without by the Wyrm. Several packs began to call for a second spirit to be allowed to add its strength to Magpie, the Caern's first totem. A totem of War they called for, a totem called Salamander. Many things are joined in threes and this would prove to be the third misstep that resulted in the loss of Cypress Rising. The resulting debate tore the Caern even further apart. Amidst this tumult came a messenger from the Caern of the Wheel Renewed. Brought by Crow, this child of Uktena, flying on Owl's wings, arrived in search of answers to Magpie's disappearance. Magpie, whose attention had been on Cypress Rising and events elsewhere in the Tellurian, returned Cyllan Briar to the Wheel with a warning for that Sept that she would return but to be prepared for the worst. Tempers came to a head in December of 1995 when on the night of the full moon, a night that should have been a time of celebration for Luna's chosen, a mixed pack of Get and Shadow Lords at Cypress Rising tried to force the issue with the Sept Alpha. Suspecting their intentions even after they finally backed down this Fury, Ereshkigal, sent the Caern's Master of Rites and a young Ragabash to watch over them and discern their intentions. When the old Master of Rites had proof that they were trying to summon Salamander on their own, he sent the Ragabash back to Ereshkigal for help. Old alliances and old feuds were at work though and the Ragabash, himself a Shadow Lord, was waylaid by an old, renegade pack of Furies -- one of those that still held true to the belief that Cypress Rising should have remained pure. He was killed for the message he carried and the crones went, not to the Caern but to the erring pack instead, wild for blood. The crones returned to the Caern with their prize, the dead pack leader's klaive, triumphant in their belief that they had forestalled disaster and had the proof they needed to get the treacherous newcomers ousted from their Caern. What they did, instead, was unknowingly carry an avatar of Salamander past their Caern's wards into the heart of the Caern itself. The resulting fight was heated, bloody, and mercifully short. When it was over, most of the defenders were dead, another of Gaia's holy places had been defiled, and a forest fire blazed freely. Only a handful of Garou escaped, through a Moon Bridge opened by Magpie. A bridge that opened, for Magpie's reasons which she did not share, at the Caern of the Wheel Renewed. The survivors were dropped, with no warning, in the midst of the Wheel's moot. That night, Black Spiral Dancers traced their path from Alabama and assaulted the Wheel, but were driven back. It cost the Wheel Garou several of their oldest members. Alive, but barely so, the Cypress Garou licked their wounds. Welcomed, but without warmth, by a Sept that paid for their protection in blood. Hunting, without success, for sign of the bane that had caused this. Word came from one of their own, a lupus Ragabash who had barely survived the loss of Cypress Rising herself and had come all of this way cross-country on her own, that there was no Caern to return to. It had been bulldozed to build a firebreak against the forest fire that followed Salamander's conquest. The trees. The stones. The very land itself cut to the very bone by the machines of the apes. What ensued was a struggle by many of those whose home was lost against the encroaching strength of Harano: the despair that robs one of drive and purpose. There was nowhere to go, no sign of the enemy on which they might take vengeance, and no positions for them at the Caern of the Wheel Renewed. It was a long and cold winter. What else but vengeance? Magpie, though, is not without some knowledge of the future. She had brought the Cypress Garou to another of Salamander's domains. Several cubs from the Wheel, on their Rite of Passage, confronted a young pack of Black Spiral Dancers questing for Salamander as their totem. A right-wing militia movement was gaining momentum in southern Washington, burning barns and strengthening racial divisions. Fire threatened the Wheel Renewed. A small pack of Garou stumbled onto a Dancer stronghold in the southern half of the state and were almost killed. The Cypress Garou began to gather again, each new incursion giving them strength to take up the fight again. To gain some amount of vengeance for what they had lost. The rest of the story of Cypress Rising's survivors is found here. Category: Caerns Category:Black Fury Septs Category:Get of Fenris Septs Category:Shadow Lord Septs Category:Dead Caerns